Walk at liberty through Philadelphia history

This is an excerpt, featuring the President's House, from the full article, which includes other sites in Old City.

PHILADELPHIA — If you’ve ever had a yen to visit this historic city, now’s the time. Next Sunday Southwest Airlines starts flying from Logan to Philadelphia, with five nonstop flights daily. On July 21, Megabus starts running three daily departures from South Station. Both Amtrak’s Acela Express and Northeast Regional services run multiple times daily, getting here in five or six hours.

Philadelphia’s Old City is a walker’s delight; at its center is Independence National Historical Park, a verdant urban space offering 22 historic and new sites dedicated to the revolutionary era — most of them free. Here’s a sampling:

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PRESIDENT’S HOUSE

For the last decade of the 18th century, Philadelphia served as the temporary center of government while a new Capitol was built on the shores of the Potomac River. To house the country’s first president, the city rented an elegant three-story brick house at the corner of Sixth and Market streets from financier Robert Morris. President Washington lived and worked in the house from 1790 to 1797; President John Adams occupied it from 1797 to 1800. That house was torn down in 1832, but the park service excavated the site down to its foundation during the construction of the adjacent Liberty Bell Center.

Nine slaves came with the Washingtons from Mount Vernon, including the family chef Hercules, and Oney Judge, a young seamstress and Martha Washington’s personal servant. Both later escaped.

An exhibit to commemorate the President’s House and the enslaved Africans who lived and worked there is scheduled to open in the fall. Independence Mall between Fifth and Sixth streets, www.phila.gov/presidentshouse